In a historic move last year the first ever Guyana Police Force Women’s Association was formed with a view to empowering the female ranks and providing another avenue for them to seek help if they need it.
According to first vice-president of the association Senior Superintendent Maxine Graham the association main’s focus is to give female officers a voice and to help them deal with some important issues, not the least among which is domestic violence.
The association, which covers the 795 women in the force, is headed by Assistant Commissioner Carol Primo,
the highest ranking woman, followed by Graham.
“We have to deal with domestic violence, we have to deal with abuse and some of us women are also being abused so you have to first be empowered before you can actually deal with [such a] situation. Because if you are being abused and then persons come to make reports to you, you know if you are not dealing with it for yourself how could you actually assist them?” Graham said in an interview with the Sunday Stabroek.
Reminded about the public criticisms of the force and how it deals with domestic violence cases, Graham pointed out that police officers are part of society and some of them could be abusers or could be abused themselves.
“For me I think the organization is doing a lot for women as it relates to domestic violence, because we would have gone so far that when you have joined the organization, as soon as you enter the training environment, in the curriculum one of the courses is domestic violence…” Graham said, adding that this started ten years ago.
Further, she said domestic violence is also included in the curriculum of programmes for ranks who return to the school for more training. Graham also explained that the government through its Citizen Security Programme has refurbished many stations and created rooms for persons to make reports of domestic violence, sexual offences and child abuse in a private atmosphere. She said all the stations in A Division are equipped with such spaces as well as others on the
East Coast and in Regions 5 and 6.
“You should be taken…” Graham responded when asked if this reporter as a member of the public went to any station in the city to make a report on domestic violence she would be taken to such a space.
“Sometimes we have deviations from the norm because they [the officers] know what they have to do but then you are here and they are there…” she commented.
While saying that she does not believe that the criticisms are always fair, Graham said as long as the criticisms are meaningful it could help the force to improve on how it deals with the issue.
“As long as it [the criticism] is meaningful I don’t have a problem, but remember on the other hand you have other agencies that also have a lot of funding for domestic violence too and should be doing things,” she observed.
Sunday Stabroek attempted to get a response from Graham on the matter of the three teenage girls who were kept at the Albion Police Station for 24 days after being sentenced to the New Opportunity Corps for wandering before they were finally released following an appeal of their sentence.
“I wouldn’t venture there at all…” she replied, “I would not even attempt to answer; I would stick to the association…”
Meanwhile, Graham said while initially some women officers did not buy-in to the idea of the association last year, many had started to join as they realized it was about them. She pointed out that some of them are single parents who need some support and she would empower them by encouraging them to elevate themselves even if they cannot do so academically.
“It is not just coming to work today, you put your bag down and then you go in the afternoon, even though you might want to say I have five children and I have to look to them… even when you are looking for them, also look for you,” she said.
Complaints
Asked about whether the association had received complaints from women indicating that they were being targeted by their male counterparts, Graham said there are so far no such complaints. She also disclosed that for the 28 years she has been in the force she was not discriminated against because of her gender.
“For the twenty-eight years I can be honest to say that I would not have had that difficulty, because my position is if you have to toe the line you have to toe the line…” Graham said.
She said female ranks should not take the position of wanting favours to be granted to them because of their gender, as they would have been aware of the nature of the job when they joined the force. Graham said when she joined the force she knew it was male dominated, but she knew immediately for her to “make it and actually outshine my male counterparts” she had to improve herself academically.
“But with academic [work] you also have to be disciplined, because indiscipline cannot carry you through, but as long as you have those systems around you, you don’t have a difficulty. But if you don’t want to qualify yourself and everything for you becomes an issue, well then you would have a difficulty and you will stagnate yourself,” she said.
The association is for all women regardless of their rank, and Graham said following their one-year anniversary it was recognized that there are women posted at stations in far-flung areas and they need to be reached also. As a result they have launched sub-committees in the different areas whose members attend meetings in Georgetown and later hold meetings in their area with the other female ranks. They would have meetings where doctors and other experts will talk to the women on various topics.
Giving a brief background of the association being formed, Graham recalled that the idea of a policewomen’s association has been something that the force has been toying with for many years, ever since Winston Felix was the Commissioner of Police. She said back in 2005 they started to have women forums and conferences for the female ranks as it was felt that women needed some amount of empowerment. She noted that there are such associations in the Caribbean and while Felix was pushing for them to form the association it was not done during his tenure. When he demitted office the now deceased Henry Greene took over and initially was against the idea.
“He said that we are all on the wavelength in the organization and there is no need to have such an association… so he didn’t buy into it,” Graham stated.
However, she said in 2010 after some of the female officers had reported what was happening in the region and even internationally after they represented the force at various conferences, Greene had a change of mind and he tasked them to form the association. Before it became a reality, Graham said, “he met his situation and he left,” and when current Commissioner Leroy Brumell came on board he immediately sought to get the association formed which was done in November last year.
The “situation” Graham referred to as it relates to Greene had to do with rape allegations made against him which resulted in him proceeding on leave. Subsequently he met his demise in an accident.
For its first anniversary, among other activities, the association held a forum which saw experts make presentations on etiquette, health issues, retirement, domestic violence and the managing of their finances.
“That was deemed a success; we had three hundred women attending that forum…” Graham said.
For the new year Graham said they would be having outreaches which would include visiting shut-in members, as well as more health talks, because from what was said at the forum it was recognized that the women had a lot of questions on their health. Fund-raising activities would also be held and it is expected the monies would be used to have more women attend conferences overseas, which would result in more of them being equipped to assist their sisters. The Miss Police Force pageant, which was last held in 1988, will once again become a reality.
And Graham said they would not just work for the women but also for the men in the force, and eventually they would reach out to the other Joint Services women.
The Senior Superintendent said she would encourage young women to join the force as it offered a lot of opportunity for them and they should not fear that they would be abused or discriminated against. In her 28 years in the force she said she had enjoyed her “active policing, like being in charge of stations, going on patrols, going on raids, cordons and searches.” Today her work could be described as less exciting, as she is the Staff Officer Administrator dealing with the welfare of the ranks from constables to sergeants.